When Mike wakes me at 2 am, I feel like one of the walking dead. Usually, although not good at being woken up, I am pretty much alert within about 5 minutes. Today I am not, and have to resort to putting the alarm clock by my ear, setting it every 15 minutes in case I nod off, which I do.
Just before Mike is due to come on watch, I see a squall developing on the horizon and see it grow on the radar. As the wind starts to pick up, mindful that we have a full mainsail and genoa out, I decide to get Mike just as the wind suddenly whacks up to 28 knots.
We quickly roll away the genoa and enjoy the short period of flying at 9 knots before the winds die down again and we go back eventually to our 4-5 knots. Still, it’s a lovely sunrise, yet again, made even more beautiful as the sun peers out from behind the storm clouds.
Photos: Sun rise and storm clouds
Immediately things are ship-shape I scuttle back to bed and am asleep almost immediately. When I wake up it is gone midday and Mike gives me the wonderful news that he seems to have fixed the freezer. He had been conversing by e-mail with Bill from Crazy Horse who understands all about refrigeration (amongst other things) and asked all the pertinent questions to point Mike in the right direction. Apparently, in at attempt to make sure the freezer didn’t run out of gas, the guy in Knysna overfilled it. However, it turns out that if the pressure is too high and the voltage drops for any reason, the compressor will not be able to start. When the voltage dropped (probably me on watch not putting the generator on quickly enough when the batteries were low) the compressor stopped and could not start again even when the voltage resumed to normal because the system had too much pressure in it. When we first realised the freezer wasn’t working Mike’s first reaction was to shove more refrigerant in it which just made it worse. Immediately he reduced the pressure, the compressor came on, stayed on and immediately froze everything in sight.
Of course, this is wonderful news, although naturally Mike’s euphoria had stopped him from removing the fresh vegetables that I had stored in the freezer as we were using it as a chiller when it stopped working as a freezer. Still, just the two lonesome carrots and my ginger had frozen. Everything else was OK.
On the basis that chicken curry, lovely as it was, is OK for two days running but a bummer for four days, I freeze the remaining portions for the next two Fridays – curry nights as you know!
We can now eat normally again.
It’s a beautiful day with a bright clear sky and fluffy white clouds. As I lie alternately in the shade and sun in the cockpit, I enjoy our gentle sail through calm water, the boat making a delightful tinkling sound as we move through it, only marred by the occasional thwack of the mainsail as it fills with air.
Our position is: 15 deg 27 min S, 15 deg 38 min W
Distance so far: 20791 nautical miles
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